Fewer people, more sites — campers say season is prime

Keith McMurdy was reading a book while listening to the waves crash below the bluffs at South Carlsbad State Beach.

It was a perfect warm November day, with the sun glistening off the waves and the campground only about a quarter full. McMurdy, 74, and his wife, Anne, have come down from Riverside the past seven Novembers to camp, getting the same site – or close to it – each time for their four-night stays.

To McMurdy there’s no better time to come. He wants nothing to do with the summer crowds. To him and Anne, winter is the time to camp at North County beaches.

“We’ve always had nice weather,” he says. “We’ve been lucky, I realize that. But it’s always nice the week we come. I take pictures, and I like the sunsets.”

In a moment, he’s showing off his photo album, filled with 8x10 prints of November sunsets from Site 205, or close to it. The landmarks stay the same; the rich colors don’t, switching from pink to purple to blue as he flips the pages.

Lee Settle Jr. (left) and John Barnett (right) enjoy their time with their families on a Sunday this month at the San Elijo State campground in Encinitas.
— Eduardo Contreras

Beach camping

Camping at South Carlsbad and San Elijo state beaches:

Reservations can be made at both parks from seven months to 48 hours in advance by calling Reserve America at (800) 444-7275 or going to www.reserveameric.... Overall information for both parks can be found at www.parks.ca.gov.

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South Carlsbad

Where: 7201 Carlsbad Blvd.

Details: Campers can stay a maximum of seven nights (March-Nov.) and 14 nights (Dec.-Feb.). Rates per night are $35 for an inland site, $50 for an ocean site. Senior discount ($2 off) for age 62-plus. Information: (760) 438-3143. No sites with electrical hookups. Generators can be used from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

San Elijo

Where: 2050 South Coast Highway 101, Cardiff

Details: Maximum nights and rates are the same as at South Carlsbad for nonelectrical hookups. Information: (760) 753-5091. Electrical hookups are available, with rates of $55 per day for an inland site and $65 for an ocean site.

To learn more

For those who would like to learn more, or get involved with helping the parks, go to the website of the Friends of Cardiff and Carlsbad State Beaches at www.fccsb.org.

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Summer may be the rock star, the time when people flock to the two state parks – South Carlsbad and San Elijo – that offer camping. But according to many, winter is the real deal.

Kim Brean and her husband, Kenny, live in Carlsbad and have been camping at San Elijo for 30 years. While they sometimes pull their RV into the park in the summer, they spend far more time at the park in winter.

“Oh yeah,” Kim said. “It’s quieter here in the winter. And nicer weather, honestly. Well, you know how it is. In summer it’s overcast a lot. I’d say September, October, November it’s absolutely beautiful here. There’s no fog most of the time, you get crystal-clear mornings and beautiful sunsets.”

Of course, winter in SoCal is a relative term. It’s not Fargo. Temperatures at night sometimes drop into the 40s at the campgrounds, but not often.

There are 222 campsites at South Carlsbad and 174 at San Elijo. For 12 weeks, beginning in November, those numbers are cut by 50 percent, as half the campgrounds are closed for maintenance (six weeks for each half).

The week of Thanksgiving is booked solid for both parks — when the full campgrounds are available — with full or nearly full sites also for the week around Christmas-New Year’s, says Brian Ketterer, the North Sector superintendent for the state parks in San Diego. During normal winter months, he says campgrounds will be 85 to 90 percent full on weekends, with only about 25 percent of available sites filled Monday through Thursday. During the summer, the campgrounds are always full.

Bill Mahoney of Arizona, who spends about four months a year as a camp host at the two parks in the fall and winter, says it’s that midweek winter lull that’s the prize.

“It’s kind of a sleeper in a way,” he says. “Most weekends, it’s hard to tell if it’s winter or summer because the campgrounds are busy and full. But from Sunday afternoon checkout time till Friday, it’s a great opportunity to come up without a reservation.”

That’s exactly what the Breans do. Because they live nearby, they’ll stop in at the park to check for open sites and cancellations, then swoop in when they find one.

At South Carlsbad, Tracy and Gregg Holt are sudden converts to winter camping. They and their four young children usually come down from Riverside to the park in spring or summer, but had to change their plans and wound up with a winter date. They swear they’ll come back again because of the more relaxed atmosphere.

Lee Settle Jr., 60, has lived in Oceanside his whole life, and he and his wife, Eileen, and their family have long camped at San Elijo in November. It’s a family tradition.

“There’s not much drinking or ruckus going on (in the fall and winter),” he says. “During the summer there’s a lot of it. This past week it’s been very quiet at night. We’ve laid there in the tent at night, listening to the waves breaking and enjoyed it immensely.”